Seventeen-year-old Althea is the sole support of her widowed mother, young half-brother, and two stepsisters—and she must maintain Crawley Hall. Althea, in short, must marry well. But there are few wealthy suitors—or suitors of any kind—in their small Yorkshire town of Lesser Hoo. Then Lord Boring comes to stay with his aunt and uncle. Althea sets her cap to become Lady Boring. There’s only one problem; his friend and business manager Mr. Fredericks keeps getting in the way. And, as it turns out, Fredericks has set his own cap.

Why I want to read it:

A comedy of manners set in a big Named Mansion (you always know you're in for a good time if the house is named). I've heard talk that the main character is a sassy piece of work who offers up a lot of funny asides, which sounds great to me. I read Patrice Kindl's fractured fairy tale Goose Chase and I loved the snarky humor there. I am also very curious to meet this Mr. Fredericks.

In a realm beset by natural disasters, only the bonded Pairs—Source and Shield—make the land habitable and keep the citizenry safe. But can Dunleavy Mallorough and Lord Shintaro Karish put aside their differences to defeat something even more unnatural than their reluctant affections for each other?

Why I want to read it:

Court fantasy with a hate-turned-love romance, so this one pretty much has my name written all over it! I've even heard it recommended to fans of Sherwood Smith's Crown Duel, so I KNOW I have to get my hands on a copy. Only problem? I can't find it in any library. Not in NY, and now not in Texas. *sigh* Someday.

Haha yeah, I got a kick out of the name Lord Boring, too. I don't know if I'm being kind of slow here, but is that actually his name, or just the nickname the narrator gives him? Guess I'll have to read the book to find out!

Huh, I wonder if it's a case of horrible white-washing on the cover, or if the naming conventions of the world are just seriously mixed up. :P I haven't gotten any impression that there's anything Japanese in the story, but I could be totally wrong. Now I'm doubly motivated to find a copy.

Great picks! I actually almost picked Keeping the Castle for my WoW this week. I haven't really heard anything about it but sassy and snarky is right up my alley!! It comes out this week so I'll definitely check it out :D And love the cover for Resenting the Hero XD